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Canadian writers go in front of the camera to protest Bill C-32

It didn’t take long for Facebook and Twitter to pick up on the Writers’ Union of Canada’s new video, Canadian Writers Speak Out on Copyright, released on YouTube last night. Authors Nino Ricci, Susan Swan, Sandra Campbell, and Erna Paris join Writers’ Union president Alan Cumyn to protest Bill C-32, the federal government’s proposed Copyright Modernization Act.

Specifically, the video targets the bill’s education exemption, which would allow the free use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes. No one else is being asked to subsidize education this way, Paris says in the video.

In a November interview with Q&Q, both Cumyn and Access Copyright general counsel Roanie Levy said one of their biggest concerns with the proposed legislation was its broad definition. Because it’s so vaguely worded, [the educational exemption] is going to mean endless, costly litigation in order to figure out what it means, and that’s the first sign of a bad law, Cumyn told Q&Q.

For more background on Bill C-32, which received support at second reading and is now sitting in legislative committee, read Q&Q‘s past coverage of the issue.

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February 15th, 2011

6:02 pm

Category: Book news

Tagged with: Bill C-32, election2011